Below is a link to my Life Cycle of a Star story:

I don't think it matters. It says turtle so you should click on it.


http://www.astronomy.com/en/News-Observing/News/2011/11/A%20tiny%20flame%20shines%20light%20on%20supernova%20explosions.aspx
Type 1a supernovas are the result of a white dwarf that detonates from reignition of the collapsed core of the dead star. This phenomena briefly outshines all the other stars in its galaxy. The distinct characteristic of the explosion assists in determining distances within the universe thus helping understand and calculate the expansion of the universe. Understanding the Type 1a supernova and how it happens provides insights into what is happening at the moment when the white dwarf star makes this spectacular transition to a supernova.

http://www.astronomy.com/News-Observing/News/2011/11/NASA%20probe%20data%20show%20evidence%20of%20liquid%20water%20on%20icy%20Europa.aspx
Europa is only one of Jupiter's many moons, but is one of the largest. Beneath the surface is believed to be a body of liquid water large enough to cover the surface of the Earth. The surface of Europa resembles one that may hold life. This discovery leads to believe that there may be life not only on Europa, but elsewhere in our solar system. The only way to be sure about this "ocean" would be to send a spacecraft to investigate and probe through the icy shell of the satellite. Such a mission is rated second highest priority by the National Research Council and NASA is already working on it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/opinion/the-universe-dark-energy-and-us.html?_r=1&ref=astronomyandastrophysics
70 percent of cosmic everything is know to be dark energy, 25 percent is known to be dark matter, and an almost nothing 5 percent includes all the galaxies, stars and everything else found on the periodic table. If all the galaxies, stars, planets, nebulae, black holes, and then some is only 5 percent of the universe, dark energy and dark matter play a mighty important role as well. The Nobel Prize in Physics was just awarded to two teams of astronomers for shedding light on the increasing speed of the universe's expansion due to dark energy.


http://www.astronomy.com/News-Observing/News/2008/10/Astronomers%20continue%20the%20search%20for%20antimatter.aspx
Scientists are on the search for antimatter from the beginning of the universe, the big bang. Some scientists believe that black holes and pulsating stars could be producing antimatter. The collision of matter and antimatter is most sufficient in generating energy. Galaxy collisions demonstrating strong gravitational forces also show possibe evidence of trace amounts of antimatter.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205102424.htm
Rotating at more than two million kilometres per hour (300x faster than the rate of the Sun) could tear itself apart with centrifugal forces. It's journey through space seems to differ from it's neighbors. This suggests it could be a runaway star ejected from a binary star system. Supporting eveidence includes a pulsar and the supernova ramnant in the space around it.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111202091001.htm
A new enormous nursery for massive stars lies close enough to observe. The stars are the most massive and could be some hundreds times larger than the sun. The image captured of the phenomena in infrared light portrays an image of a dragonfly. These stars won't live long in comparison to how long start can survive. The larger and hotter the star, the faster it burns its nuclear fuel. The shell of the nursery, holding all the stars from escaping the vicinity, is much larger than the stars being born in it. There is, however, a runaway star. This suggests the nursery is no longer being held together by gravity.

http://www.astronomy.com/News-Observing/News/2011/08/The%20star%20that%20should%20not%20exist.aspx
There is a star in the constellation Leo that has the smallest amounts of elements heavier than helium. It may be nearly 13 billion years old or older. A star this mass suggests the the coulds it formed from had never condensed. Finding a star of our once though impossible mass has astrophysicists questioning their models of the formation of stars. This srat is more than 20,000 times SMALLER than our Sun. Hydrogen and helium were the first and most abundant elements created in the big bang and they went on to create stars which then created supernovas which goes on to create everything else in the universe. It's an on going cycle. There are now more elements, heavy ones, metals, floating around in the universe. Clouds with more dynamic composition could let more stars much like this one exist.

http://trap.it/dpWbhU
It's finally 2012 and it's crossed everyone's mind: is the world going to end? Some predict a supernova to harm Earth and the life on it. X- and gamma-ray radiation would damage the ozone layer allowing more harmful UV rays to Earth's surface; this could be lethal to some organisms, such as phytoplankton, that are essential to the circle of life. However, there are no stars within 50 light years of us that are at risk of exploding into a supernova anytime soon. Another type of explosion could be a gamma ray burst - a massive star collapses in on itself or rarely, two neutron stars will collide, and makes a black hole. Gamma ray bursts can affect Earth the same as a supernova from an even greater distance of 10,000 light years away.